gun control:i dont understand...

catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
edited December 2007 in A Moving Train
... in the aftermath of these mass killings that occur, what is done to address the problem? is anything at all done? any soul searching? any tightening of the laws? or do you all stand behind the 2nd amendment figuring that something that was possibly relevent over 200 years ago still has the same relevence today?
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  • AhnimusAhnimus Posts: 10,560
    I don't think it has anything to do with laws. It's all about societal ignorance and selfishness. Individualism.

    In light of the recent conference on religious beliefs that I posted http://www.thesciencenetwork.org/beyondbelief2/ it could be argued that the degradation of religious institutions increases individualism and selfishness. However, the reverse of degradation has occured in the United States.
    I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
  • dunkmandunkman Posts: 19,646
    i dont understand either... the need to arm myself against an enemy within doesnt enter my mindset.. but i tell ye this, i am becoming less sympathetic to these shootings as time goes by... sure its sad and overwhelming in tragedy... but the very laws that allow guns allow murder on this scale... this can be seen in looking at other countries handgun crime stats... in the US the overall firearm-related death rate among U.S. children less than 15 years of age was nearly 12 times higher than among children than the next 25 industrialised nations COMBINED...



    Every day 8 children ages 0-18 are killed by guns in the United States. (National Center for Health Statistics-2004)

    Every 9 days a North Carolina child age 0-17 is fatally shot. (NC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner-2005)
    oh scary... 40000 morbidly obese christians wearing fanny packs invading europe is probably the least scariest thing since I watched an edited version of The Care Bears movie in an extremely brightly lit cinema.
  • blondieblue227blondieblue227 Va, USA Posts: 4,509
    people say why change over a random happening.

    it isn't random anymore in my opinion.

    SO DO SOMETHING!!!!
    *~Pearl Jam will be blasted from speakers until morale improves~*

  • TrixieCatTrixieCat Posts: 5,756
    I support the right to arm bears.


    It is a little more difficult than saying, "Hey, this really needs to be changed"

    It was discussed recently how difficult it is to get a bill through congress...what with all the other crap that gets attached to it.
    Ok, you want better gun control??? Only if you pass a the addendum to allow pro-lifers to smuggle crack into the NICU of every hospital in the country so the nurses can supplement their income.
    Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
    And I don't feel right when you're gone away
  • onelongsongonelongsong Posts: 3,517
    ... in the aftermath of these mass killings that occur, what is done to address the problem? is anything at all done? any soul searching? any tightening of the laws? or do you all stand behind the 2nd amendment figuring that something that was possibly relevent over 200 years ago still has the same relevence today?

    sure; we're going to disarm innocent citizens because we can't disarm criminals; and create a massive black market for guns so EVERY criminal can be armed. that way innocent citizens will be at the mercy of the criminals but we'll be able to appease the bleading hearts that live nowhere near the us.
  • catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    TrixieCat wrote:
    I support the right to arm bears.


    It is a little more difficult than saying, "Hey, this really needs to be changed"

    It was discussed recently how difficult it is to get a bill through congress...what with all the other crap that gets attached to it.
    Ok, you want better gun control??? Only if you pass a the addendum to allow pro-lifers to smuggle crack into the NICU of every hospital in the country so the nurses can supplement their income.

    i remember the last time australia had a mass shooting. the entire country went into deep mourning and did a whole lot of soul searching. we realised that we didn't want this to happen ever again. so a weapons control was brought in. not every one supported it of course. and i personally know people who are still possession of their weapons. but a change was made and it was for the benefit of the entire population.
    i guess the major difference between the United States and Australia is that not only do we not have the right to bear arms, we dont even have a bill of rights.
    hear my name
    take a good look
    this could be the day
    hold my hand
    lie beside me
    i just need to say
  • catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    sure; we're going to disarm innocent citizens because we can't disarm criminals; and create a massive black market for guns so EVERY criminal can be armed. that way innocent citizens will be at the mercy of the criminals but we'll be able to appease the bleading hearts that live nowhere near the us.

    who said anything about appeasing the bleeding hearts that live nowhere near the US? i was just wondering about the mindset of the american people when these shootings occur. im trying to understand why nothing appears to ever be done to curb the enthusiasm for guns that american society seems to have. as an outsider i can tell you that we look at the United States and wonder what the fuck it would take for a change to happen.
    hear my name
    take a good look
    this could be the day
    hold my hand
    lie beside me
    i just need to say
  • onelongsongonelongsong Posts: 3,517
    who said anything about appeasing the bleeding hearts that live nowhere near the US? i was just wondering about the mindset of the american people when these shootings occur. im trying to understand why nothing appears to ever be done to curb the enthusiasm for guns that american society seems to have. as an outsider i can tell you that we look at the United States and wonder what the fuck it would take for a change to happen.

    it will take a revolution; and those with the guns will win. why don't we ban fuckin cars when a drunk driver kills a family?
  • catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    it will take a revolution; and those with the guns will win. why don't we ban fuckin cars when a drunk driver kills a family?

    calm down will you. all im asking about is what goes through the citizenry's head. im not talking about banning weapons. im interested in the thought processes, nothing else.
    hear my name
    take a good look
    this could be the day
    hold my hand
    lie beside me
    i just need to say
  • 810wmb810wmb Posts: 849
    right!

    ban twinkies because people are fat!

    ban everything....shit, people won't be happy until the gov't takes control of everything and wipes for them
    i'm the meat, yer not...signed Capt Asshat
  • 810wmb810wmb Posts: 849
    calm down will you. all im asking about is what goes through the citizenry's head. im not talking about banning weapons. im interested in the thought processes, nothing else.

    we think, "what a fucked up dude"

    we don't go throwing our guns in the river
    i'm the meat, yer not...signed Capt Asshat
  • AhnimusAhnimus Posts: 10,560
    it will take a revolution; and those with the guns will win. why don't we ban fuckin cars when a drunk driver kills a family?

    I don't think people are gonna understand the American right to bear arms and why it exists.

    Although, ironically, the type of government the founding fathers feared is precisely the type of government you have now in the USA.

    Personally I'm tired of discussing how gun control is the solution, because it's not, it has almost nothing to do with the problem.

    It's a syllogistic error

    A) Person dies from gun shot
    B) Guns kill people
    C) Deaths are caused by guns

    Newton's first law of motion: An object at rest stays at rest.

    A gun will never fire unless something causes it to fire. The protoypical case would be a human being pulling the trigger with their finger. But a human being is also an object subject to Newton's first law. A force must act on the human being for the human being to pull the trigger. Ad infinitum.

    It seems that some people want to focus on guns as the first cause, when in actuality there may not be such a cause, or such a cause might be God. Nevertheless, the cause which should be identified is the force which acts on the human, since the human could use a Gun, a Knife, Poison, or any other number of things to facilitate the actions which they are motivated to perform.
    I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
  • catefrancescatefrances Posts: 29,003
    Ahnimus wrote:
    I don't think people are gonna understand the American right to bear arms and why it exists.

    Although, ironically, the type of government the founding fathers feared is precisely the type of government you have now in the USA.

    Personally I'm tired of discussing how gun control is the solution, because it's not, it has almost nothing to do with the problem.

    It's a syllogistic error

    A) Person dies from gun shot
    B) Guns kill people
    C) Deaths are caused by guns

    Newton's first law of motion: An object at rest stays at rest.

    A gun will never fire unless something causes it to fire. The protoypical case would be a human being pulling the trigger with their finger. But a human being is also an object subject to Newton's first law. A force must act on the human being for the human being to pull the trigger. Ad infinitum.

    It seems that some people want to focus on guns as the first cause, when in actuality there may not be such a cause, or such a cause might be God. Nevertheless, the cause which should be identified is the force which acts on the human, since the human could use a Gun, a Knife, Poison, or any other number of things to facilitate the actions which they are motivated to perform.

    oh i understand why the right to bear arms exists.
    and i get that a gun is by itself incapable of killing people. again i reiterate, tis the mindset of the people im interested in. do you all think ah fuck it another loony on the loose? if only access to guns was stricter...? do you wonder what the fuck was going through the shooters head? do you wish something was done about the arms trade? what the hell goes through your mind?
    hear my name
    take a good look
    this could be the day
    hold my hand
    lie beside me
    i just need to say
  • TrixieCatTrixieCat Posts: 5,756
    oh i understand why the right to bear arms exists.
    and i get that a gun is by itself incapable of killing people. again i reiterate, tis the mindset of the people im interested in. do you all think ah fuck it another loony on the loose? if only access to guns was stricter...? do you wonder what the fuck was going through the shooters head? do you wish something was done about the arms trade? what the hell goes through your mind?
    You are asking a bunch of people on a message board what goes through their mind??? What do you want us to say? What do you Think goes through our minds when a random shooting occurs, or someone open fires in a school or in a shopping mall????
    Do you think people are all whooping it up and yelling "awesome!!!!!!!!!!! gimme some more beer cleetus! Let's go shoot ourselves some more innocent folk!"

    Do we all think ah fuck it??? Please stop defining our country through laws and bills that are so antiquated they barely take women into account.
    Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
    And I don't feel right when you're gone away
  • g under pg under p Surfing The far side of THE Sombrero Galaxy Posts: 18,200
    Maybe this could be another side of the equation: The High Cost Of Manliness.

    Peace
    *We CAN bomb the World to pieces, but we CAN'T bomb it into PEACE*...Michael Franti

    *MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
    .....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti

    *The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)


  • onelongsongonelongsong Posts: 3,517
    810wmb wrote:
    we think, "what a fucked up dude"

    we don't go throwing our guns in the river

    sorry for blowing up. i'm having a rough day.
    shite like that doesn't happen in states that allow their citizens to carry conceald weapons. so if we want to use logic; we should arm everyone.
    i had a nice conversation with jeremy on a thread the other day. he lives in south london and has shootings around his uni. he worries about walking home from the pub at 1:00 am wondering if he's walking down the wrong street or if the bloke on the corner is going to fancy his wallet; etc etc.
    so; is jeremy a liar because the uk banned guns; or does it figure that when you disarm honest citizens; only criminals have guns?
  • AhnimusAhnimus Posts: 10,560
    oh i understand why the right to bear arms exists.
    and i get that a gun is by itself incapable of killing people. again i reiterate, tis the mindset of the people im interested in. do you all think ah fuck it another loony on the loose? if only access to guns was stricter...? do you wonder what the fuck was going through the shooters head? do you wish something was done about the arms trade? what the hell goes through your mind?

    I actually have a pretty good idea of why it happens. But then, I've spent a lot of time studying it. My explanation is rather counter-intuitive, because it doesn't appeal to supernaturalism. The explanation is quite natural and draws on different theories from Chaos Theory to Inter-Group Hostility. It's really the realm of criminology. The solution is unlikely to ever occur because it requires participation and education of the public at large. The public doesn't want to take any responsibility for these incidences, instead they look to things like gun laws.

    I've gone in-depth on Cho, the Virginia Tech killer and many other such people on this very forum. But these types of discussions are typically ignored and the popular gun debate rages on.
    I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
  • AhnimusAhnimus Posts: 10,560
    sorry for blowing up. i'm having a rough day.
    shite like that doesn't happen in states that allow their citizens to carry conceald weapons. so if we want to use logic; we should arm everyone.
    i had a nice conversation with jeremy on a thread the other day. he lives in south london and has shootings around his uni. he worries about walking home from the pub at 1:00 am wondering if he's walking down the wrong street or if the bloke on the corner is going to fancy his wallet; etc etc.
    so; is jeremy a liar because the uk banned guns; or does it figure that when you disarm honest citizens; only criminals have guns?

    Initially I found the argument to be interesting. If everyone had guns criminals wouldn't kill. But then I realized that it is erroneous in the same regard as the anti-gun argument. Both make the assumption that guns are the problem. If I was a person who deliberately intended to destroy multiple lives in a public setting and I knew that civilians would also be armed, I would take precautionary measures. Perhaps I would use a bomb instead. I've personally acquired several military handbooks online, including the SAS and GSG-9. Both of which have instructions for constructing incendiaries from household materials. Availability is not the problem from any angle.
    I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
  • blondieblue227blondieblue227 Va, USA Posts: 4,509
    what about this view:

    not letting needy/troubled kids slip thru the system? ......who grow up and sometimes turn into mad gun men.
    *~Pearl Jam will be blasted from speakers until morale improves~*

  • 810wmb810wmb Posts: 849
    sorry for blowing up. i'm having a rough day.
    shite like that doesn't happen in states that allow their citizens to carry conceald weapons. so if we want to use logic; we should arm everyone.
    i had a nice conversation with jeremy on a thread the other day. he lives in south london and has shootings around his uni. he worries about walking home from the pub at 1:00 am wondering if he's walking down the wrong street or if the bloke on the corner is going to fancy his wallet; etc etc.
    so; is jeremy a liar because the uk banned guns; or does it figure that when you disarm honest citizens; only criminals have guns?

    umm, was directed towards cate maybe?

    hell, i'm with you!
    i'm the meat, yer not...signed Capt Asshat
  • onelongsongonelongsong Posts: 3,517
    810wmb wrote:
    umm, was directed towards cate maybe?

    hell, i'm with you!

    no; cate's my friend. i've been replying to several gun threads over the last week or so and a certain skirt wearing bloke thinks he has all the answers. i'm tired of his name calling which tells me he has no intelligence or is a young child; and brags about enjoying beating up americans. after a week of battering; i deserve to blow up. i just didn't mean for any fallout to land in cates direction. she's a good person. and i'm sure if she just put up with a week of aussie bashing threads; she'd do the same.
  • soulsingingsoulsinging Posts: 13,202
    g under p wrote:
    Maybe this could be another side of the equation: The High Cost Of Manliness.

    Peace

    good luck getting support on that one.
  • AhnimusAhnimus Posts: 10,560
    good luck getting support on that one.

    No doubt. Professional criminologists don't even get support for their theories. People want sound-byte solutions that don't directly involve them in any way.
    I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
  • soulsingingsoulsinging Posts: 13,202
    Ahnimus wrote:
    No doubt. Professional criminologists don't even get support for their theories. People want sound-byte solutions that don't directly involve them in any way.

    and american men all wanna be john mclane way too bad to consider toning it down.
  • onelongsongonelongsong Posts: 3,517
    and american men all wanna be john mclane way too bad to consider toning it down.


    who's john mclane?
  • PegasusPegasus Posts: 3,754
    after the Dunblane massacre in Scotland and the Port Arthur one in Oz in 96 (within weeks of each other, I was in Oz at the time), gun laws were changed in both countries.

    know what? since then, NOTHING like that ever happened again!

    there might still be some gun problems, but it's nearly always gang-related and 1 or 2 people at a time, nothing like happens on a regular basis in the state!

    so yes, gun control IS the solution to that particular problem!
  • JeanieJeanie Posts: 9,446
    Pegasus wrote:
    after the Dunblane massacre in Scotland and the Port Arthur one in Oz in 96 (within weeks of each other, I was in Oz at the time), gun laws were changed in both countries.

    know what? since then, NOTHING like that ever happened again!

    there might still be some gun problems, but it's nearly always gang-related and 1 or 2 people at a time, nothing like happens on a regular basis in the state!

    so yes, gun control IS the solution to that particular problem!


    Well I can't speak for Scotland and there hasn't been a repeat of the kind of massacre that was perpertrated by Martin Bryant, but you're dreaming if you think there hasn't been an increase in knife related deaths and stabbings. AND there have been more than a couple of incidents of innocent bystanders being shot or traumatized by criminals weilding guns in public places. Amongst other things. And lets not even start on how many people have been killed in the underworld wars here in Melbourne. ALL of which involved guns and just PURE LUCK that innocent bystanders haven't been killed. And an increase in gang related violence or violence in general. Semi automatics and automatic weapons are out there. Just none of the law abiding citizens that had them and never used them have them anymore.
    We probably would have had the same result in stopping massacres of the type perpertrated by Martin Bryant and his colleague Julian Knight if we had BETTER psychiatric services.
    NOPE!!!

    *~You're IT Bert!~*

    Hold on to the thread
    The currents will shift
  • onelongsongonelongsong Posts: 3,517
    Pegasus wrote:
    after the Dunblane massacre in Scotland and the Port Arthur one in Oz in 96 (within weeks of each other, I was in Oz at the time), gun laws were changed in both countries.

    know what? since then, NOTHING like that ever happened again!

    there might still be some gun problems, but it's nearly always gang-related and 1 or 2 people at a time, nothing like happens on a regular basis in the state!

    so yes, gun control IS the solution to that particular problem!

    so leave the bloody us alone. you have no vested interest. in fact; go find that thread with jeremy talking about south london. me thinks you need a bit of educating.
  • AhnimusAhnimus Posts: 10,560
    Pegasus wrote:
    after the Dunblane massacre in Scotland and the Port Arthur one in Oz in 96 (within weeks of each other, I was in Oz at the time), gun laws were changed in both countries.

    know what? since then, NOTHING like that ever happened again!

    there might still be some gun problems, but it's nearly always gang-related and 1 or 2 people at a time, nothing like happens on a regular basis in the state!

    so yes, gun control IS the solution to that particular problem!

    Actually... in 1999 the homicide rate in Australia was identical to 1996.

    http://www.aic.gov.au/stats/crime/homicide.html
    I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
  • AhnimusAhnimus Posts: 10,560
    In 2004-05 there were 249 incidents involving 267 victims of homicide, the lowest number of homicide incidents and victims in Australia since the AIC began monitoring. The weapons/methods used in the commission of homicide have remained relatively unchanged over the years. The figure below shows that while the most common types of weapons used in homicide in Australia are weapons of opportunity, such as knives or sharp instruments and hands and/or feet, weapon use tends to differ based on the gender of the victim. Females were more likely to be killed with a knife or sharp instrument (37%), followed by being beaten to death with hands and/or feet (27%). This pattern of weapon use was similar for male victims, although the proportion of males killed with a firearm in 2004-05 declined, with a firearm becoming the third most common weapon for male victims (19%). Fewer than one in 10 females were killed with a firearm in 2004-05.

    http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/cfi/cfi141.html

    Yup, homicides from firearms go down, knives and other opportunistic weapons goes up.
    I necessarily have the passion for writing this, and you have the passion for condemning me; both of us are equally fools, equally the toys of destiny. Your nature is to do harm, mine is to love truth, and to make it public in spite of you. - Voltaire
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